5 Backstage Stories That Turn Beloved Movies Depressing

5

The Stuntwoman For Mad Max's Furiosa Ended Up Losing Her Arm, Just Like Her Character

Meet Olivia Jackson, the stuntwoman who made Furiosa so badass:

Warner Bros. PicturesThis movie would be even better if they'd let her wear sunglasses all the way through.

On top of performing stunts in movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Jackson also served as the stunt double for Guardian Of The Galaxy's Nebula -- who, like Furiosa, has a robotic arm (which she removes at one point). Sadly, Jackson ended up having way more in common with her characters than she would've liked after performing a stunt that involved driving a motorcycle next to a metal camera arm. When the rig malfunctioned and failed to lift off, Jackson crashed straight into it, damaging most of her body -- especially her arm, which had to be amputated.

On top of everything, this horrifying accident happened during the making of the latest Resident Evil, a movie eight people saw and two will remember (only one of them fondly). Jackson has been documenting her recovery on her Instagram, where she mentions that she was left with a "[skew] spine, off-centered neck (the most painful part), twisted shoulder blade, permanently dislocated shoulder, 1 arm, muscle atrophy on the left hand side of my core & plenty more other treats." Even still, she wants to get back to stunts as soon as she can. Here's hoping scriptwriters keep going with the "badass one-armed woman" trope.

4

The Original Predator And Alien Both Died Of Awful Diseases

The man behind (well, inside) Alien's xenomorph was Bolaji Badejo, a Nigerian visual artist with no prior acting experience. He was cast in the role because of his exquisitely lean physique and height of between 6'10" and 7'2". No, that doesn't mean he was a shapeshifter; sources vary, probably because when you're that tall, either no one cares to measure anymore, or no one dares.

3

Rocky Gave Inspirational Speeches To Rocky Jr. While Stallone Drifted Away From His Real Son

One of the most quietly powerful moments in Creed (aka Rocky VII: Adrian's Revenge) is when Rocky talks about his son. The camera actually shows us a photo of Sylvester Stallone and his real-life kid, Sage, who played Rocky Jr. in Rocky V.

Rocky says that while his son lives in Vancouver and they barely talk, he's happy that the kid is living his own life. This is especially touching when you remember the scene in 2006's Rocky Balboa when Rocky gives an inspirational speech to the adult Rocky Jr. about daring to follow his own path in life without blaming others (*cough* his famous dad *cough*) for his failures. It's all very heartfelt and meaningful ...

2

The Author Of Leaving Las Vegas Committed Suicide Shortly After Hearing About The Movie

Leaving Las Vegas is a bleak film that reminds us there was a time when Nicolas Cage was actually a good actor, rather than a voodoo-practicing, pyramid-building madman screaming about bees. It's a movie about a man who sells all his possessions and moves to Las Vegas to drink himself to death, so we're already off to a pleasant start.

1

The Whale From Free Willy Was Liberated After A Fan Campaign ... And Died Trying To Get Back To Humans

Free Willy and its sequels follow the journey of a young orca in captivity, and the humans who try to guide it to freedom. It was a massive hit. So massive, in fact, that it inspired an organization to free the whale who portrayed Willy, an Icelandic-owned orca named Keiko. The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation received funding from Warner Bros. studios, as well as from children and schools around the world.

With pressure building, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources worked to integrate Keiko back into the wild and orca society. It ... didn't work out. Released from Iceland in 2002, Keiko made a beeline for Norway, a nearly thousand-mile journey that was thought to be a search for its human caretakers. Once in Scandinavian waters, the whale refused to integrate into whale society. Trackers found that Keiko kept swimming up to boats and trying to interact with humans, who probably had no idea they were giving the cold shoulder to a film star.

Unwilling or unable to fend for himself, Keiko eventually died of a combination of undernourishment and pneumonia in 2003, less than a year after being released. But at least everyone involved learned a valuable lesson: Never try anything, because everything is horrible. The end.

Taylor Daine is an Indianapolis-based person who tweets at @turtledovejones. Rani Baker created the surreal horror video games DEATH SWORD and YOU CAN'T GO HOME, among others. You can keep up to date about her projects (and get free stuff!) on her Patreon. You can see Tiagosvn's depressing real-life epilogue to this article on his Twitter.

The guy who financed Keiko's reintroduction also had a terrible epilogue to this story too -- check out Money From Thin Air: The Story of Craig McCaw for more.

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